An Inside Texas conversation with Lee head coach Mike Owens on Nic Redwine:

IT: What are Nic's strengths as a football player?

Owens: He's got good size. He's 6-2, 220 but the big thing is he runs about a 4.5 forty and he's got great quickness and feet and he's very aggressive. He was a wide receiver for us up until his junior year and then he started putting on a little weight so we thought, maybe we can play him at tight end or defensive end, so we put him over at defensive end and he's never left since.

IT: What did the Texas coaches tell you that they like about Nic?

Owens: There's a combination of a lot of things. The No. 1 thing Texas is concerned about aside from him being able to play is his academics and he does a great job in the classroom, he's very articulate, he has two great parents, and then on top of that, he's a speed guy, a pass rush kind of guy. In these days with everyone lining up in the shotgun, you've got to have some people that can pressure that son of a gun and he's one of those guys that can do it.

IT: What did he mean to your football team?

Owens: It's just like any kid we've ever had who's a great player -- Justin Warren, Derek Farmer, all these guys -- he's just another one of those that you can't replace him, you've just got to try to put someone in there that can play. He's unique, with his size and speed, you can't really replace somebody like that... He was just a great player for us. Made big plays.

IT: Is Nic a leader, and if so, how does he lead?

Owens: He led by example but he was also real vocal, a real leader. He was elected team captain by the team, so they evidently felt like had had something they could follow. He was very vocal. He spoke at every meeting to the team. After we get through with them, we always let the team meet, and he was one of the first ones that would have something to say.

IT: What other positions did Nic play for you guys?

Owens: Last two years hasn't played anything but defensive end. When he was an underlevel player, he played split end. Matter of fact, the summer before his junior year, he was on our seven-on-seven team as a wide receiver!

IT: At what position does Nic project to play at the college level?

Owens: It depends on what kind of defense you're playing, but I think he's an outside linebacker kind of guy. He's got great speed, he can cover anybody he wants to, extremely physical. He's got the whole package. He can definitely play linebacker.

IT: Is he a Will LB?

Owens: These days, with all the 3-3 with five men in coverage, he's one of those guys. He can play there (Will).

IT: So you see him at linebacker at Texas?

Owens: I don't think they're going to just stick him at defensive end, you gotta have some guys that can cover. Now, if you're going to play with three linebackers, you've gotta have guys that can cover some wide receiver... If you play man-to-man, that puts pressure on the linebackers to cover backs and things like that, you've gotta have guys that can run nowadays, they can't just be some lug standing out there playing linebacker anymore.

IT: Nic is a guy that can definitely run?

Owens: Definitely. No doubt about that.

IT: And he runs well with pads on?

Owens: That's right. Matter of fact, I was just talking about that with a coach in here. There's guys that can run in a straight line as fast as you want them to but you put them in pads, they can't play dead. He is a guy that is a football player that can run track, not just the opposite.

IT: Is there a defining moment for you that exemplifies Nic's ability as a football player?

Owens: There's one thing that he did that helped the team more than anything else was putting pressure on quarterbacks. He was in there face before they wanted him to be. It was real tough to block him.

IT: How advanced is Nic making moves off the end and in technique as a DE?

Owens: He's a good technique player especially on pass rush stuff. He may need some work on run-stop technique, but if it's third-and-nine and he knows it's probably going to be a pass, look out, you better put two guys on him because one guy's not going to block him, because he knows it all.

IT: Anything that we didn't cover that you'd like to add?

Owens: He's just got the whole package, academically sound, he's going to be a good student, he's not going to have any problems in school. Not going to have any problems off the field. He loves the game, he likes to practice and I can't think of a guy that I'd rather recruit more than some guy like that.